Doll&#39;s eye



July 2, 1940. M. DE CESARE DOLLS EYE Filed June 20, 1938 INVENTOR M47750Z) 6ESAR BY 5 TTO RN EY Patented July 2, 1940 PATENT OFFICE DOLLS EYEMatteo De Cesare,

Newark, N. J., assignor to Ellisa Company, Jersey City, N. J., acorpora,-

tion of New Jersey Application June 20, 1938, Serial No. 214,709

6 Claims.

This invention relates generally to dolls eyes and has for one of itsobjects the provision of an improved construction for dolls eyesimulating members.

Another object of my invention is to provide an improved dolls eyeconstruction which shall comprise relatively few and simple parts, whichshall be relatively inexpensive to manufacture, which shall be easy toassemble and which, at the same time, shall be highly efficient for thepurposes intended.

Other objects of this invention Will in part be obvious and in parthereinafter pointed out.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction,combinations of elements, and arrangement of parts which will beexemplified in the construction hereinafter described, and of which thescope of application will be indicated in the claims. i

In the accompanying drawing, in which is shown one of the variouspossible embodiments of this invention:

Fig. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a dolls eye constructed inaccordance with my invention;

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view thereof;

Fig. 3 is a rear elevational view thereof; and

Fig. 4 is a disassociated perspective view illustrating the manner ofassembling the dolls eye parts.

Referring now in detail to the drawing, there is disclosed a dolls eyeconstruction which is designed to simulate the natural eye and whichcomprises a substantally hemispherical shell H] which may be stamped outof suitable material customarily employed in the art, such as forexample sheet metal, and which is provided with a pair of alignedprojecting ears II having aligned apertures l2. The dolls eye may bemounted on any suitable axle (not shown) in,

the manner customarily known to the art, by having the said axle passthrough the apertures l2. The shell I0 is provided with acircularopening 14 having a surrounding shoulder portion I5. Mounted adjacentthis opening N there is an iris and pupil'member l6, which is preferablymade of glass or similar material. The said member [6 may be of anysuitable design such as, for example, that shown in the drawing whichcomprises a central inner recessed portion I! which serves as the pupilof the eye and a series of ridges 18 on the rear surface of said member16 surrounding the pupil I! and extending radially therefrom. The memberI6 is preferably of larger diameter than the opening l4 so that the samemay be assembled in the shell ID from the interior thereof, and pressedup against the shell wall surrounding the said opening so that it willnot pass through. A

shoulder portion [8 may be provided on the IB, said shoulder portionbeing adapted is concentrically curved with respect to the shell I 0 butwhich is of smaller size and adapted to overlie the upper portion of thesaid shell Ill. The eyelid member 20 is an independent member which'maybe made of the same material as the shell l0 and which is attached tothe said shell in the following manner. At a point near the rear edgeIlla of the shell l0, disposed at the top thereof, I provide an aperture2| which may be punched through the metal ofthe shell Ill.-

The eyelid member 20 is provided with a correspondingly positionedopening 22 which is formed by piercing the metal of the said member 20so that portions 22a thereof extend downwardly from the main surfacethereof. These downwardly projecting portions 22a are received in theopening 2| after which they are bent over or riveted to hold the eyelidmember in fixed position, as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawing. If de--sired, a row of eyelashes 23 may be fixed to the underside of the lid 20so as to project outwardly therefrom and to overhang the iris and pupilmember I6.

To removably retain the iris and pupil member I 6 in proper positionadjacent the shell opening 14, the following means are provided. Theshell ID, at a point adjacent the rear edge Illa but in opposedrelationship to that of the opening 2|, is pierced to provide anaperture 25. It is noted that portions 25a of the shell In which havebeen pierced project into the inside of the shell, as shown. A member 30of any suitable resilient material is employed, which is preferably madeof a flat sheet and bent over into the desired shape, as shown, so thatwhen in opera tive position, one portion 30a thereof is adapted toresiliently press against the member Hi to force the shoulder l8 intocontact with the shoulder l5 surrounding the opening M. The member 30 isprovided with an aperture 26 which is slightly larger than the opening25 and which is designed to receive therethrough the projecting portions25a. The opposite transverse edge of the member 30 is provided with anotch 3| which is designed to have engaged therein a portion Zia of theeyelid 29 which is designed to angularly project beyond the rear edgeiiia of the shell i0.

Referring now to Fig. 4 of the drawing, it will be readily seen how themember l8 may be retained in the shell I0 by means of the resilientmember 3i). The iris and pupil member i6 is first inserted into theshell ID from the back thereof so that the curved outer surface thereofprojects through the opening i4. While in such position, the member 30is then mounted into proper position by causing the projections 25ato bereceived in the corresponding opening 26, after which the notch 3| isresiliently caused to receive therein the projection Zia. If, for anyreason, it is desired to disassemble the iris and pupil member I6 fromthe shell ii), the member 30 may be readily removed by pressing the sameslightly so as to resiliently remove the notched end thereof from theprojection Zia and then withdrawing the projections 250. from theopening 26.

It will thus be seen that there is provided a device in which theseveral objects of this invention are achieved, and which is welladapted to meet the conditions of practical use.

As various possible embodiments might be made of the above invention,and as various changes might be made in the embodiments above set forth,it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in theaccompanying drawing is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in alimiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent:

1. In a dolls eye construction, a substantially hemispherical shellhaving a rearwardly projecting portion, an inwardly projecting portionand an aperture in the front wall portion thereof, an iris and pupilmember mounted adjacent said aperture and having a portion adjacent theperiphery thereof contactively engaging a portion of the shellsurrounding said aperture, and separate means independent of said shellfor retaining said iris and pupil member in such position, said lastnamed means cooperating with said projecting portions.

2. In a dolls eye construction, a substantially hemispherical shell ofopaque material, having a portion struck out therefrom to provide aninward projection and an aperture in the front wall portion thereof, aniris and pupil member mounted adjacent said aperture and having aportion adjacent the periphery thereof contactively engaging a portionof the shell surrounding said aperture, said iris and pupil member beingmade of glass or the like, and separately removable means for retainingsaid iris and pupil member in such position, said last.

named means cooperating with said inward projection.

3. In a dolls eye construction, a substantially hemispherical shellhaving an aperture in the front wall portion thereof, an eyelid memberattached to said shell, an iris and pupil member mounted adjacent saidaperture and having a portion adjacent the periphery thereofcontactively engaging a portion of the shell surrounding said aperture,and means cooperating with said eyelid member for retaining said irisand pupil member in such position, said last named means comprising aseparable resilient strip diametrically mounted in said shell and havingits diametrically opposed ends contactively engaging said shell and aportion thereof intermediate the ends pressing against said iris andpupil member.

4. In a dolls eye construction, a substantially hemispherical shellhaving an aperture in the front wall portion thereof, an iris and pupilmember mounted adjacent said aperture and having a portion adjacent theperiphery thereof contactively engaging a portion of the shellsurrounding said aperture, means for retaining said iris and pupilmemberin such position, said last named means comprising a hole piercedthrough the shell from the outer surface thereof, leaving inwardlyprojecting portions of the material of said shell, and a separableresilient strip diametrically disposed within said shell and having aportion thereof pressing against said iris and pupil member, saidresilient member having an aperture therein for receiving saidprojecting portions to removably retain said resilient memher inposition.

5. In a dolls eye construction, a substantially hemispherical shellhaving an aperture in the front wall portion thereof, an eyelid memberconcentrically curved in relation to said shell and superimposedthereon, said eyelid member having a portion thereof angularlyprojecting beyond the rear edge of said shell, iris and pupil membermounted adjacent said aperture and having a portion adjacent theperiphery thereof contactively engaging a portion of the shellsurrounding said aperture, means for retaining said iris and pupilmember in such position, said last named means comprising a hole piercedthrough the shell from the outer surface thereof, leaving inwardlyprojecting portions of the material of said shell, and a resilientmember pressing against said iris and pupil member, one end of saidresilient member having an aperture for receiving therein saidprojecting portions, and the other end of said resilient member being inabutting engagement with said angularly projecting eyelid portion.

6. In a dolls eye construction, a substantially hemispherical shellhaving an aperture in the front wall portion thereof, an eyelid memberconcentrically curved in relation to said, shell and superimposedthereon, said eyelid member having a portion thereof angularlyprojecting beyond the rear edge of said shell, an iris and pupil membermounted adjacent said aperture and having a portion adjacent theperiphery thereof contactively engaging a portion of the shellsurrounding said aperture, and means cooperating with said eyelid memberprojecting portion for retaining said iris and pupil member in suchposition,

MAT'IEO DE CESARE.

